Tomato base sauce for anything! From Pizza & Pasta, to Lasagne.
Making your base sauces at home is not only a cost efficient way of filling tummies, it is also so much more nutrient dense option and actually- way more convenient than you think. It may seem overwhelming when you don't have many ingredients and you want to make a simple, low effort meal after a long day, but it's recipes like these that save the day. We are excited to introduce to you, the simplest, yummiest Tomato base sauce recipe, using only ingredients you probably have tucked away in your pantry! Explained by the wonderful Aniwa Morunga and Hinemau Hakiwai.
"You can use this sauce as a base for your bolognaise, meatballs, if you reduce it down it’s good for pizza sauce, making vegetarian lasagne. My son’s favourite meal is Chicken Parmigiana and this is perfect for that. You could just put it on a thick piece of bread with grilled cheese. It also makes the perfect simple pasta meal for little kids. Yum."
"If you have an abundance of tomatoes use fresh, get them cheap at the right time of the year, whole boxes for $10. That’s the time to make lots of pasta sauce and put little containers of it in the freezer to use for the rest of the year. My neighbour grows all his tomatoes and freezes them whole until he is ready to make his pickles and relishes.You can use tinned tomatoes which are available all year round."
You will need:
- Fresh or tinned Tomatoes
- Tomato Paste (Optional)
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- Onions
- Garlic
Method:
For a single batch use a medium sized pot, the heavier the better, and place over a medium heat with a good glug of olive oil, lots of olive oil, like about 1/4 cup. I like my sauces chunky, so I don’t dice my onion, I halve it and slice it into wide chunks. Cook the onion off in the oil for quite a while so all the sugars come out. You must salt your onions to make sure the flavour comes out. I salt them halfway through though, it stops it burning first but it depends how you want the colour. You don’t want brown onion, you want them soft and sweet and translucent, I think that’s why I like them chunky, so it’s a soft sweet chunky mouthful in the sauce. You can add sliced garlic when you have your onions to the point that you want them - sliced, diced, however you like it, you can use a grater if you want.
Stew the garlic in the onion for a couple of minutes before adding a tablespoon of tomato paste (if you are using it) and cook that out before you add the tomatoes. I always use whole peeled tomatoes as the quality is way better and then I squish them with my hands as I tip them out of the tin into the pot.
Then, of course, I would always add red wine or balsamic vinegar and a little sweetener, but you don’t need to do this. If you cook your tomatoes for a good couple of hours you don’t need the sugar but if you are making a quick tomato sauce you won’t get the sweetness developing so the sugar is good addition. I always put grated carrot through my tomato sauce, but I cook it right off for hours, so it just makes it really sweet.
For a quick sauce:
Cook for 15-20 minutes on a medium to low heat and stirring every now and then.
For a slow cook sauce:
Cover and leave on very low heat for up to 2 hours but do keep an eye on it and stir occasionally to stop it from catching and burning. The longer you cook your sauce the more intense the flavour will be. The yummier it will be.
I would use a heavy based cast iron pit if I had one and make it in bigger quantities. It will store in the fridge for at least a week and will freeze well in any container you have.
